Griz make most of season-opening meet

Friday, March 26

Missoula, Mont.

Montana

Al Manuel Northwest Invite

Photo by: Tommy Martino

3/27/2021 6:42:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Meet Results Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

MISSOULA, Mont. – When Clint May looked at the Big Sky Conference performance lists on Friday night, it irritated the Montana head coach that no Griz athlete was listed.

Sure, it was merely a formality, the fact that Montana had yet to compete in an outdoor meet this spring, a schedule that May himself constructed. But it still bothered him to see every other Big Sky school listed, especially when he knew what his athletes are capable of.

Earlier this week, May boldly set a goal of having 10 Griz student-athletes among the Big Sky's top-10 list by the end of the weekend. It was a lofty goal considering 36 athletes were making their outdoor debuts this weekend, with all competing for the first time in more than a year, and many last competing in May 2019.

When the Al Manuel Northwest Invite – featuring athletes from Montana, Eastern Washington, Montana State, Utah State and Carroll College – wrapped up on Saturday afternoon, however, May was pleased with what he saw.

"I might have undersold our team," May said. "I think we might have more than 10 top-10 performances."

Time will tell, once all competition for the weekend is complete, but it's easy to see why May was encouraged.

The excitement began on Friday, when the Grizzlies won both the men's and women's hammer throw. Tanessa Morris, a transfer from Lethbridge, became Montana's fourth-best performer all-time with a throw of 185-8. Freshman Matt Ward won the event on the men's side with a top throw of 185-9. Both marks should be among the top eight in the Big Sky this season.

Those throws carried over to Saturday morning, when the meet continued with the javelin.

Montana again swept the competition, and again did so in impressive fashion.

Montana went 1-2 on the men's side, with senior Dylan Kipp (230-4) winning the event, followed by freshman Evan Todd (214-11). Both throws were personal bests, but even more impressive, entering the weekend, no Big Sky athlete had throws further than 209 feet this season.

Kipp's mark should lead the Big Sky and was within 2 feet of Montana's school record.

On the women's side, senior Kimberly Earhart was victorious with a 5-foot PR, reaching 153-11, which would rank fourth in the Big Sky entering the weekend.

"That was an incredible display in the javelin, from both the men's and women's sides," May said. "I knew that would be a place that we would see some top-10s in the conference, but we might be even better, and deeper, than I thought.

"It was really exciting to watch those athletes get the day started, and seeing the rest of our team getting fired up watching them. You could see their excitement building, knowing they're part of that team."

Gallery: (3-27-2021) TF: Al Manuel Northwest Invite (03.27.21)

On the weekend, Montana's athletes recorded 62 personal bests, 12 event wins and several other impressive performances, but the biggest thing that stood out to May was his team's depth.

"You're going to see 'Montana' listed numerous times in the conference performance lists, but even beyond that, I thought we showed that we're not top heavy. We have athletes up and down the roster who can be competitive."

In addition to the men's javelin, which Montana went 1-2 in, the Grizzlies had three of the top-four jumpers in the men's long jump, led by sophomore Jordan Stow, who won the event with a PR jump of 23-11.5. Stow was also Montana's top performer in the high jump, placing second at 6-4.75.

In the women's high jump, junior Abby Dodge won the event with a personal-best jump of 5-7. Dodge was one of four Grizzlies in the top-five of the high jump. Freshman Ailsa Gilbert won the women's long jump (17-11.75), one of three Grizzlies in the top-four, all with PRs.

The trend continued with sophomore Jansen Ziola winning the women's 100-meter hurdles (14.40), one of three Grizzlies in the top-four. Montana placed first and third in the men's 200 meters – with sophomore Cade Johnstone winning (PR 21.62) – and did the same in the men's 5,000 meters, led by junior Kyle Peterson, who shaved nearly 30 seconds off his PR (15:00.35). Sophomore Abby Harmon won the women's 400-meter hurdles (PR 1:04.72), in addition to running on both of Montana's top relay teams.

"I think most of our athletes finished today and said, 'I wish I could have done something different'," May said. "That's a great spot to be in, because they're going to get chances really soon.

"Today was a great start with lots of really good stuff, and now we can look ahead to the next one and try to keep building."

Montana will have plenty of opportunities to do so, competing the next five weeks leading into the Big Sky Championships in mid-May.

Women's 100 meters – Emma Normand (PR 12.29, 2^nd/10)
Women's 200 meters – Emma Normand (25.37, 3^rd/12); Holly Sudol (PR 26.20, 6^th); Morgan Radtke (PR 26.86, 9^th); Ailsa Gilbert (PR 27.33, 12^th)
Women's 400 meters – Faith Rebish (1:01.90, 2^nd/4); Cree Bell (1:02.83, 3^rd); McKinlee Mihelish (1:0427, 4^th)
Women's 800 meters – Carly Dahms (PR 2:17.56, 3^rd/9); Amara Christensen (PR ~2:21.50, 5^th)
Women's 1,500 meters – Olivia Lackland Henry (PR 4:55.35, 10^th/16); Emily Foote (PR 4:58.71, 12^th); Hannah Wylie (5:07.83, 14^th)
Women's 5,000 meters – Rachel Torrey (18:44.72, 4^th/6)
Women's 100-meter hurdles – Jansen Ziola (14.40, 1^st/9); Ailsa Gilbert (PR 14.81, 2^nd); Jaree Mane (PR 15.34, 4^th); Holly Sudol (PR 15.85, 8^th)
Women's 400-meter hurdles – Abby Harmon (PR 1:04.72, 1^st/4)
Women's 4x100-meter relay – Montana A: Emma Normand, Abby Harmon, Jansen Ziola, Jaree Mane (48.22, 2^nd/2)
Women's 4x400-meter relay – Montana A: Abby Harmon, Cree Bell, Jaree Mane, Jansen Ziola (4:02.52, 2^nd/5); Montana B: Amara Christensen, Carly Dahms, McKinlee Mihelish, Holly Sudol (PR 4:10.76, 4^th)
Women's high jump – Abby Dodge (PR 5-7, 1^st/8); Morgan Radtke (5-3, 2^nd); Jaree Mane (5-1, 4^th); Holly Sudol (PR 4-11, 5^th); Ailsa Gilbert (PR 4-5, 8^th)
Women's pole vault – Kahsiah Benson (11-7, 5^th/16); Aly Tekippe (11-1, 7^th); Jadyn Campbell (10-1.25, 14^th)
Women's long jump – Ailsa Gilbert (PR 17-11.75, 1^st/12); Aly Tekippe (PR 17-10.75, 2^nd); Holly Sudol (PR 17-6.75, 4^th); Morgan Radtke (PR 16-6, 10^th)
Women's triple jump – Abby Dodge (36-6.25, 3^rd/8)
Women's shot put – Jaree Mane (37-6.75, 8^th/15); Jansen Ziola (PR 31-7.5, 12^th); Morgan Radtke (PR 31-6.75, 13^th); Ailsa Gilbert (PR 29-9.5, 14^th)
Women's discus – Holly Houston (147-11, 2^nd/14); Erin Murphy (PR 101-11, 13^th)
Women's hammer throw – Tanessa Morris (PR 185-8, 1^st/16); Ariel Clark (PR 154-1, 9^th); Holly Houston (PR 153-3, 10^th); Erin Murphy (PR 127-8, 13^th); Emilie Hinrichs (PR 125-0, 15^th)
Women's javelin – Kimberly Earhart (PR 153-11, 1^st/11); Autumn Morse (PR 123-5, 5^th); Tatum McNamara (PR 116-11, 7^th); Jaree Mane (108-7, 8^th); Jansen Ziola (89-4, 10^th); Emilie Hinrichs (PR 80-10, 11^th)

Men's 100 meters – Kip Krebsbach (10.81, 4^th/13); Xavier Melice (PR 10.98, 5^th); Teagun Holycross (PR 11.09, 6^th); KC Robinson IV (11.31, 9^th); Cooper Craig (11.36, 10^th)
Men's 200 meters – Cade Johnstone (PR 21.62, 1^st/15); Xavier Melice (21.99, 3^rd); Cooper Craig (22.99, 9^th); KC Robinson IV (PR 23.38, 11^th)
Men's 400 meters – Trevor Henry (52.50, 7^th/8)
Men's 800 meters – Jacob Lamb (1:53.15, 2^nd/11); Quincy Fast (PR 1:53.44, 3^rd); Colton Hess (1:57.81, 7^th); Chandler Nill (2:00.00, 9^th)
Men's 1,500 meters – Truman Cowan (PR 3:58.31, 2^nd/12); Hunter May (PR 4:00.73, 4^th); Will Dauenhauer (PR 4:02.36, 5^th); Ben Vanderbosch (4:02.59, 6^th); Ellis McKean (PR 4:09.06, 8^th)
Men's 5,000 meters – Kyle Peterson (PR 15:00.35, 1^st/4); Ben Cikutovich (PR 15:29.36, 3^rd)
Men's 400-meter hurdles – Chase Armstrong (59.27, 3^rd/4)
Men's 3,000-meter steeplechase – Joel Mendez (PR 9:31.84, 2^nd/7); AJ Eckmann (PR 9:43.55, 3^rd); Rogelio Mares (PR 9:54.96, 4^th); Ellis McKean (PR 9:57.96, 5^th); Chandler Nill (PR 10:00.97, 6^th); Will Dauenhauer (PR 10:07.20, 7^th)
Men's 4x400-meter relay – Montana B: Chase Armstrong, Colton Hess, Quincy Fast, Trevor Henry (3:22.25, 1^st/4)
Men's high jump – Jordan Stow (6-4.75, 2^nd/4); Alfred Peterson (PR 6-0.75, 4^th)
Men's pole vault – Zane Johnson (PR 14-11.5, 4^th/10); Carson Weeden (PR 13-11.75, 5^th)
Men's long jump – Jordan Stow (PR 23-11.5, 1^st/7); Peterson Bohannon (23-8.75, 2^nd); Jason Upton (PR 22-6.5, 4^th); Alfred Peterson (PR 21-0.5, 7^th)
Men's triple jump – Zane Johnson (PR 44-2.75, 2^nd/2)
Men's shot put – Brent Yeakey (164-3, 2^nd/10); Matt Ward (PR 156-9, 3^rd)
Men's hammer throw – Matt Ward (PR 185-9, 1^st/7)
Men's javelin – Dylan Kipp (PR 230-4, 1^st/7); Evan Todd (214-11, 2^nd); Everett Fred (PR 201-0, 5^th); Matthew Hockett (PR 197-0, 6^th)